No showy, colorful flowers or incredible foliage will draw you to this plant. It stands modestly to the side until you accidentally brush against her leaves and then you pause to inhale a wonderful breath of lemony fragrance. The scent is so fresh and uplifting that you may well return to this quiet plant again and again. 

Lemon Balm also known as Balm mint (it does belong to the family of mints, Labiatae), Bee Balm, Blue Balm, Cure all, Honey Plant, Melissa, Sweet Balm. All these names hint at some of its properties. The bees love this fragrant plant even though its blue-white or pale yellow flowers are small and grow in clusters in summer. Balm and bees have been linked since ancient times. Melissa comes from the Greek for ‘Honey Bee” and supposedly Lemon Balm has the same healing and tonic properties as honey and royal jelly. The ancient Greeks placed sprigs of Balm in beehives to attract a swarm. 

Lemon Balm is a perennial and produces upright stems growing to a 3-foot bush. It is very easy to grow from seed. It prefers some partial shade; a well-drained soil and it will die back in winter. The time to harvest its leaves is before flowering. There is nothing like a fresh cup of Lemon Balm tea made from your garden. 

Originally grown in the Orient, Arab traders introduced this herb to Spain. Still popular in Europe it is now grown in parts of the United States. The ancients thought of this herb as the elixir of Life with amazing powers of longevity. Throughout history it was used as a “cure all” for everything.

Today it is still used to treat a variety of physical conditions. Lemon Balm promotes sweating and menstruation. It is also recommended to treat headaches, flatulence and in particular stress and hypertension, as it is very calming and soothing. In Germany, Balm is used widely as a tranquilizer and sedative. It also helps with bronchitis and some forms of asthma. By relaxing the smooth muscle tissue of the digestive tract it aids with digestion problems. Use the crushed leaves as a poultice for sores and insect bites. Balm can also help fight mumps, herpes and other viruses. 

 A truly powerful herb, yet at the same time subtle, gentle and so giving of itself. The fragrance of this plant alone is uplifting and cheerful causing “the mind and heart to be merry”

Sweet Violet’s deep blue or white flowers grace the earth as early as January when there is rain and cold winds that blow in from the ocean. Taking a quick peep into my quiet, dormant garden in winter reveals a small carpet of these lovely, small, purple flowers. I am amazed that this seemingly delicate flower can endure the cold at this time of year. Such is nature that she would send us this beautiful reminder of the promise of spring, the promise of joy, the promise of youth.

This little flower has 5 petals arranged in a way to reveal the inner pistil and stamens welcoming the very first butterflies of the year. This perennial plant does not rely just on the butterflies for the reproduction of its species, it also grows a horizontal stem. This creeper anchors the plant at its nodes and creates a beautiful ground cover of heart shaped leaves. It enjoys partial shade and moist, rich earth.

This plant is native to Europe, Asia and Northern Africa and everywhere else in the world it has been introduced. It is easy to propagate from runners. The best time to do this is early spring and you can leave 4-5 inches between plants. In my garden it is not displaying aggressive tendencies and it appears easy to manage as a ground cover.

The medicinal and culinary uses of Sweet Violet were greatly thought of in the Classical world. In old recipe books dating from the 16 to the 19 century one could find this recipe: “Violet leaves at the entrance of Spring, fried brownish and eaten with orange and lemon juice and sugar is one of the most agreeable of all herbaceous dishes”.

The flowers and leaves can be harvested in spring and the roots in fall. The leaves can be added to salads and soups providing nourishment in the form of minerals and vitamins especially Vit C. Use the flowers in salads or press them in books preserving their delicate beauty. They can also be made into syrup to heal sore throats. Sweet Violet leaf tea can be used for treating chest colds, coughs and congestion. It acts as an expectorant in the lungs bringing up hot, yellow mucus while helping to cool dry throats and to shrink swollen glands. The leaves can be munched and made into a “spit poultice” and applied directly onto boils, burns and hot wounds. It has a wonderful cooling effect and alleviates pain. One can use it in the same manner after a dental visit, applying it to the gums to reduce inflammation. Frequent applications of this to canker sores could make them disappear. Sweet Violet leaf tea helps to alleviate headaches as well as reducing premenstrual breast tenderness. It can reduce the soreness of fibrocystic breasts and gently dissolve over time breast cysts and tumors benign and malignant. The tealeaves can be applied directly to the breasts for the same purpose. The flowers and leaves are used in British herbal medicine to treat breast and stomach cancer. Sweet Violet has this wonderful gentle ability to dissolve hardness and to soothe and comfort over time. 

In the heat of summer we must remember to keep the growing Sweet Violets moist and shady so that we can look again for the flowers in the cold, dormant times of the year.

“The sweet fragrance of youth – it abides with us always in our hearts.”

                                        (A message from Sweet Violet)

I have several Mullein in my medicinal herb garden. She is an old friend that stands watch, resilient on the hottest of days and a comforting plant to have around. Super easy to grow and transplant too, she is not fussy and needs very little to keep her happy. Just give her lots of sun.

Probably everyone has seen Mullein. It grows alongside highways, near dry riverbeds and in numerous scrubby, hot areas in the United States. Mullein is a stately, pretty plant that becomes very tall in its second year of growth, when it sends up a 4-8 ft spike covered in little yellow flowers. In its first year it produces a rosette of large velvety leaves that are soft and covered in fine white hairs. In fact the whole plant is covered with these hairs, including the flowers. This is a great plant adaptation for the gardener who forgets to water as these hairs help to reduce water loss.

Mullein is a magical herb of antiquity and has a long history going back to the ancient days of Europe from where it originated. The great respect and love that was given to this plant is inferred from the 30 or so names it was accorded. Dried Mullein stalks were dipped in tallow and burned by Christians to frighten away witches hence the name St Peter’s Staff, Jacob’s Staff. On the other hand Mullein had a reputation for being a favorite plant of witches. In England Mullein torches were burned in their rituals. Hag Taper, Witches Taper, High Taper are other Mullein names. Dried leaves were rolled and used as wicks for oil lamps and candles, hence the name Candlewick Plant. The early American settlers brought Mullein with them and over time it escaped from their gardens and spread. Many American tribes smoked the dried leaves to relieve coughing. The Navajos called it ‘Big Tobacco”

Today we still continue to use this helpful medicinal herb. The yellow flowers can be infused in olive oil for about 2 weeks, strained and the oil used to treat ear infections. The leaves can be used in a tea to treat bronchial lung problems. The dried stalks gathered in the fall can be combined with other dried plants to make a great indoor decoration.

Borage, once planted in your garden, is sure to be there for a long, long time. Fortunately it is a very attractive plant with its deep blue, star- shaped, flowers that are always in bloom year round and are displayed on droopy stems held about 2 to 3 feet from the ground. On a wet morning the dew sparkles and glistens around the protruding buds appearing mystical and magical awaiting the drone of the bees.

How Borage obtained its name isn’t quite clear. The Welsh called it Llanwenlys meaning “Herb Of Gladness”. The ancient Celts called it “barrach” or “man of courage”. Today it is still associated with courage by herbalists. It is a very cheerful plant to have and it is not surprising to know that it was prescribed 400 years ago for melancholy.

Native to the Mediterranean region from Spain to Turkey it has become naturalized in most of Europe and many other parts of the world. It loves the sun and does not appear to be fussy about the soil. Growing near a patch of strawberries will help to stimulate the growth of each other and planted near tomatoes Borage will help to control tomato worm. It is definitely a beneficial plant to have in a garden but it does self – seed very easily.

The leaves and stem are rough and hairy yet quite edible in small quantities. Cutting open the stem reveals a hollow moist tube that smells and tastes like cucumber. The young leaves can be chopped finely in salads, yogurt, soft cheese and sandwiches. The flowers are edible and look incredible in salads and drinks and decorative on cakes.

The leaves used as a tea, will stimulate the circulation and soothe the throat. Due to the mucilage content it makes a mild expectorant and has been prescribed for many years to ease bronchial infections. Poultices of the leaves are helpful when applied to sore and inflamed skin. The flowers encourage sweating and the leaves are diuretic. The seed oil is rich in polyunsaturated fats (GLA) and is superior in this respect to Evening Primrose Oil.  Borage seed oil is used to treat premenstrual complaints, rheumatic problems, eczema and other chronic skin conditions. Due to the presence of toxic alkaloids in Borage it might be wise not to eat or drink too much Borage but this does not apply to the Borage seed oil.
It has a high content of calcium, potassium and mineral salts which research has suggested works on the adrenal glands where “courage” begins. This is the essence of Borage.